Data available in the tool

There are four categories of costs and harms data in the tool. Each category has different outcomes available:

Costs and counts metric

Costs

Counts and Rates

Total ($): Estimates of the costs in 2017 Canadian dollars associated with a given outcome (e.g., hospitalizations, deaths, police incidents, correctional admissions, etc.). Per capita ($): The cost in 2017 Canadian dollars for each individual in a given region (e.g., Canada-wide or in an individual province or territory), calculated by dividing the total cost by the total number of persons in the population of interest.

Total counts: Refer to estimates of the number of cases associated with a given outcome (e.g., hospitalizations, deaths, police incidents, correctional admissions, etc.). Unstandardized rates: Calculated by dividing the total number of cases in a given time period by the total number of persons in the population of interest, multiplied by 100,000. Standardized rates: As with unstandardized rates, calculated by dividing the total number of cases in a given time period by the total number of persons in the population interest, multiplied by 100,000, but further adjusted to reflect the standard Canadian age and sex distribution. This measure should be selected when making comparisons between provinces and territories in order to control for age and sex differences in population.

Icon reference guide

Icon reference guide

Type	Icon	Function
Chart or table options		Bar chart: presents categorical data by using rectangular bars with heights or lengths proportional to the values that they represent. In this tool, you can create side-by-side or stacked bar graphs when looking at multiple variables.
		Time series: presents the value of an outcome over time so your x axis will be the years 2015–2017.
		Map of Canada: presents one selected outcome (cost or count/rate) using different shading in the provinces and territories to indicate the average of that outcome in the region. Users can hover over the map to see values for each province or territory. In this tool, you can use the play button to animate the map and see any changes to the values over time.
		Table: presents the data for your selected outcome as numerical values.
User Controls		Export: download the chart or table. The tool will provide a list of file formats available. Users have the option to select “Remember for this session” to save your preferred file type and not be prompted again during the same visit.
		Definitions: toggle this icon to access definitions.
		User Guide: access the user guide for more resources on how to use this tool by selecting this icon. The user guide will open in a new window.
		Reset: selecting this icon will reset the tool. Alternatively, you can reload the page using your browser reload button.

How to use the tool

Overview

The tool allows users to explore the costs and harms of substance use in Canada, and create and download customized charts, maps and tables.

First, select the type of chart you would like to create. The default setting is a bar chart.

Next, there are three tabs in the user interface tray you can use to build, filter and customize your charts, maps and tables. The following steps are common across chart types:

Step 6: Export, refresh and start again.

Hints

Use "Select All" in the drop down menu to both select and de-select the full list.

Example 1

Creating a stacked bar chart to show the total cost of substance use by substance and cost category in 2017.

Step 1: In “Plot” tab, select Total Costs > Total ($) as your Vertical Value.

Step 2: In “Plot” tab, select Substance as your Horizontal Value.

Step 3: In “Plot” tab, select Cost categories as your Compare By (Legend) value.

Step 4: In “Filters” tab, ensure 2017 is selected for Year.

Step 5: In “Settings” tab, select “Stack Bars”

Step 6: Download as a PDF

You will be prompted to select a file format for your download. Please select from the available options and see the explanation below your selection.

Save your PDF for use!

Use the reset button to reload your browser and start a new chart.

Example 2

Creating a time series to show substance use attributable total number of deaths by province and downloading the data as both a graph and table.

First, select “Time Series” as your chart type.

Step 1: In “Plot” tab, select Health > Deaths > Counts and Rates > Total Counts.

Step 2: In a time series, the x-axis is locked to years so there’s no need to make a selection for the horizontal value.

Step 3: In “Plot” tab, select Province/Territory as your Compare By (Legend) value.

Step 4: There are no filters to select in this example.

Step 5: There is no further customization in the “Settings” tab in this example.

Step 6: Download the data as both a graph and a data table. The first step is to download the graph.

Next, to view the data table select table from the chart options.

Select the XLSX file format to download for Excel.

Reload your browser or refresh the tool page to start a new chart.

Example 3

Creating a map to show standardized rate of inpatient hospitalizations for alcohol across the provinces and territories.

First, select Map of Canada as your chart type.

Step 1: In “Plot” tab, select Health > Inpatient hospitalizations > Counts and rates > Standardized rates.

Step 2: N/A (No Compared By/Horizontal Value).

Step 3: N/A (No Filters).

Step 4: In the “Filters” tab, select Alcohol from the substance drop down options. Please note you can only filter by one option for each of the variables (i.e., only one substance or only one health condition at a time).

Step 5: In the “Settings” tab, select your desired colour and number of breaks in the data under intervals.

Step 6: Download the map for 2017 as a JPG.

Save image for future use!

Reload your browser or refresh the tool page to start a new chart.

Example 4

Exploring per capita costs of inpatient hospitalizations by province/territory to see:

1. differences between male and female
2. differences by age categories
3. differences by health condition – cancer vs cardiovascular conditions.

First, select “Bar Chart” as your chart type.

Step 1: In “Plot” tab, select Health > Inpatient hospitalizations > Costs > Per capita ($)

Step 2: In the “Plot” tab, select Province/Territory as your Horizontal Value

Step 3:

1. To see the difference per capita costs of inpatient hospitalizations by sex, in the “Plot” tab, select Sex (Male and Female) as your Compare By (Legend) value.
   The chart now displays the different inpatient hospitalizations per capita costs between male and female for 2017.
2. To see the difference per capita costs of inpatient hospitalizations by age, in the “Plot” tab, select Age as your Compare By (Legend) value.
   The chart now displays the different inpatient hospitalizations per capita costs between age categories for 2017.
3. Next, to see the difference per capita costs of inpatient hospitalizations for cancers vs. cardiovascular conditions, in the “Plot” tab, select Health Condition as your Compare By (Legend) value.
   The chart now displays the different inpatient hospitalizations per capita costs between cancers and cardiovascular conditions by Province/Territory for 2017.

Example 5

Comparing per total lost productivity per capita costs from in Ontario vs. Quebec for alcohol, tobacco and opioids from 2015–2017.

To compare between two sets of variables – here substance (alcohol and tobacco) as well as province and territory (Ontario and Quebec), you need to create two charts in a series by using the Lock Y-Axis setting. By locking the y-axis, the scale will stay the same between graphs and you will more easily see the differences between outcomes.

Please note the range for different outcomes can very greatly so it may not be possible to lock the y-axis for all selections.

First, select “Time Series” as your chart type.

Step 1: In the “Plot” tab, select Lost Productivity>All lost productivity>Costs>Per capita ($).

Step 2: In a time series, the x-axis is locked to years so there is no need to make a selection for the horizontal value.

Step 3: In the “Plot” tab, select Substance and check Alcohol and Tobacco from the options.

Step 4: In the “Filters” tab, select Ontario.

Step 5: In the “Settings” tab, select ‘Lock Y-Axis’.

Step 6: Download as a JPG and insert into a Word document to create a side-by-side comparison.

Now, create the second chart (ensuring the y-axis is locked) and only changing the filter option from Ontario to Quebec.

Step 7: Download as a JPG to compare to the first graph in the example.

Now you have two graphs to compare side-by-side. You can also open multiple tabs to compare across graphs.